Many modern audio/video delivery systems possess the ability to either view or electronically record and store data such as videos and television shows that are often provided by a user's television content provider or by an Internet provider through an Internet adapter connected to the TV. The user may either view the data immediately or access electronically stored data at a later time. A user may wish to view the data at a later time for a number of reasons. For instance, a user may desire to view a television show that is broadcast late at night and the user would find it more convenient to watch the show during the day. In order to browse through incoming and stored data, the user may be required to scroll through lists of the recorded videos when trying to identify the specific data the user wants to access.
Scrolling involves a selection process whereby an indicator or cursor moves from one piece of data to another (in the present context, from one video icon or thumbnail to another), highlighting a particular selection. While scrolling, if the highlighted selection is chosen the audio/visual delivery system will produce that data for viewing. As intimated above, the packages of data (e.g., videos) that a user may scroll through are often represented by thumbnail images that allow the user to identify particular data through a single image. For example, there may be a list of thumbnails representing previously aired television or Internet programs that the system has saved in its memory. The thumbnails may be scrolled through by controlling a cursor using selection keys, such as up and down arrows embodied on a remote control, until the cursor highlights the television program the user wishes to view. The user then selects this television program for viewing and the system produces the data through a television set.
Currently, a user must scroll though each thumbnail separately while browsing an entire list of thumbnails. The data represented by thumbnails are often grouped together according to certain criteria, e.g. grouped according to the genre (category) of the television program. Presently, a user wishing to view available data grouped together under one category must scroll through all preceding groups of thumbnails grouped under preceding categories. This can be time consuming and inconvenient to users who wish to skip directly to thumbnails grouped under a user-desired category. The present invention provides a method for a user to skip entire groups of thumbnails without having to browse through thumbnails associated with a different criteria first, thereby reaching the desired group of thumbnails more quickly.